Forfeit the Game
by Rat3hellivader
Summary: With all of his friends slaughtered around him, and his Yami playing mind games, Ryou tries to cope with what he believes to be his fault. Rated T for violent reference.


**A/N:** Here's the updated fic to comply with the new sonfic rules. Please review and I hope you all like it!

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_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story or Yugioh.

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_Slowly, Ryou looked around, his brown eyes wide in fright as he struggled to keep himself on his feet. His friends... They were all gone... They had sacrificed themselves to save him... And what did he do to save _them_?

Absolutely nothing...

Forcing back the tears that were threatening to spill, he stumbled forwards, arms automatically flying to his sides to grab something as his knees buckled inwards. He landed on his hands and knees, wincing slightly at the pain the impact with the concrete had left stinging through him. Reaching forwards, he let his pale fingers hover over the face of Joey Wheeler before setting them to rest on the side of the Brooklyn boy's cheek. His skin was cold... Like stone...

Snatching his hand away, he looked around at his other friends scattered and blood stained bodies in hope that one of them would sit up and start laughing, the rest following in lead... It never happened. If this had at first meant to be a cruel joke, it had clearly gone wrong. Not one of them moved except for the occasional gurgling noise of the blood that had eventually drowned them all from the inside.

Closing his eyes, he let himself fall on his side on the concrete, curling into a ball and howling in remorse. He had literally stood there and watched them all die! He remembered that the last person to speak had been his own yami, from inside him. His words burned at his guilt stricken heart as he remembered what had been said over and over again.

"Stupid fool! Now look what you've done!"

Biting down on his lip, he tried to block the cruel yet horror filled voice that was intruding his thoughts. He yelped as he felt his teeth break the skin, stopping what he was doing immediately. The smallest bit of blood trickled over his lips and into his mouth, causing the distressed teen to freeze for a moment. That coppery taste that he despised so much, one of the things he hated most!

Ryou clamped a hand over his mouth, standing as quickly as he could and stumbling over to the bridge they had been nearby. Climbing up onto the side, he rested his stomach on the stone-wall and looked down into the water before spitting furiously, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. A prickling sensation caused him to clamp his eyes shut, the tears squeezing out from under his eyelids.

A cold voice behind him alerted him to the presence of another, as he felt them move slightly closer. His ears were ringing with thoughts that were screaming through his mind, not able to hear what the other person was saying. They were moving closer yet Ryou couldn't bring himself to turn around and look. It couldn't be one of his friends... That was impossible... They were all dead.

Suddenly, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder as the owner spun him around and roughly pushed him back against the wall. The back of his head crashed against the stone as his vision started to blur, everything going hazy. He looked up slightly, tears streaming down his cheeks, straight into a pair of dark brown eyes, similar to his own.

Crouching down, Yami Bakura grabbed him by the collar and tugged his hikari forwards, hissing darkly into his ear.

"You killed them... They're all dead because of you..."

Closing his eyes again, Ryou fought to get free from his other's grip, yelling words that made no sense in his struggle. All this did was make the grip on his collar tighter as his yami twisted his wrist slightly so the material of his shirt was held taught against his throat.

"If you hadn't lived, they would be alive!" the hissing was growing louder as he thrashed harder, gasping for air. His mind was fogging over, the sound of the water on the banks behind him seeming to fade. The cars on the streets a few meters away seemed to subside. All he could hear was the old spirit's words.

"Why didn't you help them...? You could have, you know.Just for your own life... But now, because you were so selfish, they're all dead!"

His insides burned, screaming for oxygen, while he struggled pathetically in his Yami's vice-like grip. He opened one of his eyes to see his yami smirking, looking amused, his fangs glinting in the small light that seemed to come from behind him.

His body attempted to take in one last breath, eyes opening wide as he gave one last jolt to get away. Then he froze and fell limp against the wall.

_Why..?_

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"Hey? Maaan, when's he gonna wake up?"

That voice... It was so familiar, yet he couldn't remember the owner. His head burned as he blindly forced himself to sit up, eyes refusing to open.

"Yug! He's wakin' up!"

A small scuffling of feet and then a happy sounding cry made him blearily open his eyes and look around slowly, trying to focus. Closing his eyes he groaned and rubbed his forehead, wincing in pain. His throat was sore and when he opened his mouth, all he could manage to do was make a small croaking noise.

"You had us worried then, Bakura! We all thought that you were..."

"Dead." Ryou managed to croak, opening his eyes as far as they would allow. He froze and squinted. "Y-yugi..?"

"Yes, that's me!" the smaller boy replied happily, a grin spreading across his face.

"W-what happened?"

"Wheeler, the idiot that he is, tripped while walking home from school and smacked his head against the pavement!" Kaiba answered, laughing, clearly amused by the whole situation. "Started yowling like a little puppy!"

"Shaddap, Kaiba!"

"B-but-"

"And then had a nosebleed which made it all the more hilarious-"

"And then you passed out..." Yugi replied again, shuffling away from Joey and Kaiba, simply because Joey was attempting to kill Seto. Again.

"You had us really worried, man." Tristan added, gently resting a hand on the white-haired boy's shoulder. "Are you feeling okay, now?"

"He's fine. He just needs a little rest..."

The painfully familiar voice of his yami started ringing through his head again, sending a chill down his spine. _"They're all dead because of you..."_

"Y-you're not dead?"

Joey turned around and raised an eyebrow at Ryou. "Hey man, I should hope I'm alive..."

_/Dolt, you should learn to get used to the sight of blood.../_

_Yami...?_

The voice in his head hesitated for a moment before replying again, his voice snappy but straining to sound cold. _/Of course it's me, moron! Who else would it be/_

Smiling warmly, Ryou closed his eyes as his friend's started fussing over him again. Well, except for Joey and Kaiba who were throwing insults at one another... Again.

As for his yami, he was slowly recovering from watching himself in his hikari's dream. Did Ryou think he was really like that? He shook his head and quickly swept his hair from his eyes. At least he himself knew that he wouldn't do anything like that. Not to Ryou, anyway... Ryou was his to protect… His only friend… And he'd make sure he never got hurt.

_No matter what..._

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**A/N:** There it is!

_Love it? Hate it? Review it!_


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